As New Jersey was very literally in the eye of the storm, Hurricane Sandy’s impact upon the state was profound. Storm surge transformed many of our barrier islands and coastal marshes; pruning winds reconfigured forest tracts.

We all recognize the tragedy of the human costs of the storm, but some people have wondered how New Jersey’s birds and wildlife have been impacted by Sandy. What species were most affected? What are the long-term effects of coastal erosion or natural food stock reduction?

Black skimmers by Jack Rogers

The good news is that there is little evidence the storm had a serious, direct impact on breeding or wintering bird populations. Late October, when Sandy struck, falls right between that time when summer residents migrate and most winter residents arrive.

Foods, Forests and Finches

But it is almost certain that the flooding tides caused mortality among rodent populations, thus reducing the prey base for wintering birds of prey. New Jersey’s Atlantic and Delaware Bay marshes rank among the planet’s greatest winter raptor strongholds. This year, many rough-legged hawks, northern harriers, and short- and long-eared owls will be forced to move on and find less affected areas to meet their food needs.

Pine siskin by Robert Palmer

As fortune has it, this year is marked by the largest influx of wintering northern finches to New Jersey in decades. Low natural food stocks have sent scores of pine siskins and purple finches—as well as red-breasted nuthatches, blue jays and evening grosbeaks—south in search of food. Homeowners can mitigate shortfalls caused by Sandy by feeding birds in their yards (and gain hours of entertainment in the process).

Coastal Habitat and Beach-Nesting Birds

The storm’s greatest potential concern may be its impact upon beach-nesting birds. In a wholly natural environment, coastal storms are part of the dynamic that creates the habitat needed by endangered, beach-nesting birds like the piping plover, least tern and black skimmer. But coastal habitat modified for human use may upset the balance of nature. As coastal communities rebuild, they and we will have to be mindful of the needs of wildlife.

Fortunately again, most beach-nesting species will not arrive until April, leaving months for planning and restoration. New Jersey Audubon will—as we always have—speak and act on the birds’ behalf. We’ll be monitoring their populations and working with our partners in the conservation community to ensure that Sandy’s legacy includes quality habitat for bird species to breed.

About the Author

Portrait by John Carno

For more on Hurricane Sandy’s impact on fish and wildlife, check out this blog post by Kevin Coyle, NWF’s vice president of education and training.

Protect Birds From Future Superstorms

Scientists are warning that superstorms like Sandy could become more and more frequent as global temperatures continue to increase–and that we must reduce the pollution causing climate change now. Take action today >>

With the BP spill in the Gulf, hurricanes and other tropical storms are likely to make it more difficult to stop the gusher and clean up the mess. NWF wildlife scientist Doug Inkley, Ph.D., and NWF climate scientist Amanda Staudt, Ph.D., gave us their assessment.

Wildlife Promise: How can a hurricane or storm hamper efforts to contain and stop the spill?
Essentially, in a major hurricane, any part of the Gulf area in the hurricane’s trajectory is evacuated, including all personnel trying to contain and abate the spill. It would force all ships to be removed from the area for safety, including those conducting oil spill recovery and wildlife protection operations.  It appears this would mean unabated spilling into the sea because the current containment strategy is not expected to stop all leakage and works only as long as the oil is taken out of the riser pipe at the ocean surface. A major storm could also damage any offshore platforms being used to stop the oil spill: after Hurricane Katrina, at least 20 such platforms were missing, sunk, or gone adrift. The choppy seas accompanying a major storm also would render skimmers and booms totally ineffective during that time.

WP: What happens to the oil that’s already spilled when it’s hit by a major storm?
A major hurricane would accelerate oil break-up and dispersion, and also spread the oil over a larger area, but diluted. Depending on the trajectory of the storm, water can be pushed inshore, forcing oil into sensitive places it isn’t currently. By the way, at the present time the Mississippi River is our friend because its continuous outflow has kept most of the oil from coming ashore even though the winds and currents over the Gulf have pushed the oil north towards the shore.  Any hurricane can overcome this beneficial effect.

WP: So, it is possible a storm or hurricane, depending upon its track, could also help break up the spill or move it out to sea?
That’s also possible. However, even in that scenario, we have to remember that all personnel doing containment, recovery and protection operations will likely need to be evacuated from the area, leaving oil to continue gushing.

WP: What’s the impact for the large deep water plumes of oil we are hearing about? Can they be churned up to the surface?
A hurricane will have minimal deep water effect as the spill is a mile below the surface and there are huge plumes of oil down deep. Hurricanes only mix up the surface waters of the ocean, perhaps as deep as 0.12 miles.

WP: Some have speculated that surface oil might make a hurricane weaker or stronger, since hurricanes draw strength from warm waters.
How the oil might affect a hurricane is largely unknown. Most likely hurricane winds would be strong enough to simply break up the thin oily surface, meaning that the oil would not affect the storm directly. MIT scientist Kerry Emanuel recently speculated that the black oil might already be absorbing extra heat and reducing evaporation of water, causing the Gulf waters to warm up. If that’s the case, then there would be more energy available to fuel a storm that entered the Gulf.

WP: Others have said the oil might be sucked into the storms causing oily rains inland?
No, it won’t ‘rain’ oil as some have speculated. Hurricanes are powered by ocean heat and supplied water by evaporation. While sea spray along the coasts may include some oil, it won’t be incorporated into rainfall.

(Photo: Hurricane Katrina provided by NOAA)